As is well known, manned vehicles are controlled by a crew sitting within a control area, generally referred to as a "cockpit", which contains an instrument panel, housing instrument providing operational and navigational information to the crew, and control mechanisms, which enable the crew to steer and regulate the operation of the vehicle. Unfortunately, the "cockpit" areas of prior art vehicles are inadequate to meet the needs of modern vehicles. Modern manned vehicles, such as jet aircraft, space vehicles and the like, are frequently operated at high subsonic, supersonic and hypersonic velocities and perform maneuvers involving high acceleration or "G-forces". Under these conditions, it is generally beyond human physical capabilities to manually perform such operations as positioning the flight surfaces of the vehicle and operate the vehicle's offensive and defensive systems. In view of this, it is conventional for the control mechanisms, which the crew actuates in the cockpit of the vehicle, to be connected electrically, or in other ways, to suitable servomotors and the like which actually position the flight surfaces of the vehicle and perform such other functions as are called for by the crew for operating and controlling the operation of the vehicle. Similarly, sensors of substantially any desired type may be located throughout the vehicle, as appropriate, and are electrically or otherwise connected to the instrument panel or helmet in the cockpit. Furthermore, both due to the construction of prior art vehicles and as a consequence of operation under the foregoing conditions, the crewmen's peripheral vision often becomes restricted. However, the need to observe other aircraft and potential hazards at all points about the vehicle is obviously of major importance. In prior art "cockpit" areas, radar, television displays and other sensors are often provided as aids to or substitutes for direct vision. Although these "aids" are helpful to some extent, they are severely limited compared to the vast quantity and range of information which the crewman's own senses receive as a result of direct visual observation.
Prior art "cockpit" areas are also inadequate from a survival standpoint. In the event that it becomes necessary to evacuate the vehicle, most prior art vehicles leave the pilot to depend upon manual evacuation or the use of ejection seats. Unfortunately, manual evacuation is frequently impossible, especially under high subsonic, supersonic and hypersonic or high G-force conditions. On the other hand, ejection seats subject the crew to extremely high G-forces in a vertical direction, which often results in spinal compression injuries. Moreover, crewmen are frequently rendered unconscious, lacerated or otherwise injured by encounters with adjacent portions of the vehicle in battle or during the ejection process. Furthermore, with prior art parachute recovery systems, after ejection, the crew may have to be separated from the ejection seat and actuate a parachute to decelerate and control his descent. Unfortunately, prior art ejection seats and their parachute recovery systems provide little or no directional control after initial ejection, protection against windblast, airborne or ground obstacles or hard landings. When impacting on water, with prior art recovery systems, the crewman is immersed in water and must enter predeployed flotation equipment and subsystems are needed to prevent hypothermia. Furthermore, in combat conditions, prior art parachute escape and recovery systems or ejection seats sometimes leave the crewmen helplessly exposed to extreme environmental conditions or hostile small arms fire for considerable periods of time.
A search in the United States Patent Office has revealed U.S. Pat. No. 2,985,413, issued May 23, 1961, to M. J. A. Von Beckh Widmanstetter showing a Multi-Directional anti-G Device which is superficially similar to the present invention. However, the Widmanstetter device is freely rotatable about the pitch axis only and is gravity-actuated, whereas the device of the present invention is moveable about both the pitch axis and the yaw axis and is power-driven. This two-axis rotation allows the capsule to respond to G-forces which are at an angle to the pitch plane of the vehicle and enables pilot to actuate the mechanism, at will, to view otherwise obstructed areas about the vehicle. These features are not possible with the Widmanstetter device.
For these and other reasons, it is apparent that the "cockpit" areas, ejection seats, parachute systems and descent and landing methods of the prior art are inadequate and have many deficiencies which have frequently been the cause of injuries and fatalities, even after successful ejection and descent.